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House Rules
The Meregaer Campaign is based on the D&D 3.5 rules published by Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro). RAW (Rules as Written) throughout except where specifically called out here. Source Text The following sources are fair game: * Players Handbook 3.5 * Dungeon Masters Guide 3.5 * Any of the Monster Manuals (details of monsters introduced under 3.0 must in some cases be tweaked for 3.5) * Any of the "Complete ---" * Planar Handbook * Spell Compendium, unless the spell is specifically ruled out here. * Magic Item Compendium (see below) 3.0 sources such as the following may not be used. * Masters of the Wild The following 3.5 sources are off limits for the time being. * Libris Mortis * Book of Vile Darkness * Psionics Handbook * Unearthed Arcana Character Generation See Ability Score Generation The basic races described in the Player's Handbook are freely available. Additionally, the following monster races are approved for use: * Aasimar (planetouched) * Centaur * Chaond (planetouched) * Raptoran * Tiefling (planetouched) * Zenithri (planetouched) Additional races may be considered on request. Item Creation Items from the d20 SRD may be created using Item Creation Feats as described in the Players' Handbook. Items from other sources, including the Magic Item Compendium, may be found but not created without the requisite knowledge. An item's abilities may be enhanced, but adding new abilities to some items carries a risk. Errata and Clarifications Glamers, Including Invisibility The recipient of a glamer is unaffected by the glamer, that is, cannot directly perceive the glamer. Viewing one's reflection in an ordinary reflective device, such as a mirror, reveals the glamer. Corollary 1: A character using the disguise self spell to emulate the appearance of a specific person suffers a -2 circumstance penalty if unable to view her reflection at the time of casting. Corollary 2: The recipient of an invisibility spell sees himself and his equipment. An invisible character suffers no penalties on action that would be impeded by inability to see one's equipment, e.g. from not being able to see the weapon he is wielding, the scroll he is reading, the tool he is using to disable a device. Corollary 3: The target of a glamer such as invisibility or veil may be unaware of the glamer. Wind Walk A creature that is changing from gaseous to material form, or back again, cannot move while doing so. Miracle and Wish These spells can't be used to reproduce spells with metamagic feats applied without increasing the level of the wish or miracle. If you wish to maximize the effect, for example, you have to cast the miracle as a 12th level spell, or use a metamagic rod, or spontaneous metamagic feat. Scrolls As I read the PH/DMG material in d20srd.org, a scroll must be deciphered before it can be read. "Deciphered" is a permanent association between a reader and a scroll. Once a scroll is deciphered, that specific reader may read that specific scroll from that time on. Enter another scroll or another reader, and you start from scratch. There is only one way to decipher a scroll - by examining it while employing your spellcraft skills. The DC is 20 + spell level. If you are not pressed for time, you may take 20 on the roll. The act of deciphering takes one minute (i.e., can't be done in melee). Taking 20 takes 10 minutes. Turning on the "read magic" spell essentially adds +10 to your spellcraft check. Without read magic in effect, a spellcaster must have invested skill points in spellcraft and have a bonus in the skill of at least the level of the spell to have chance of deciphering a scroll - i.e., +9 for a 9th level scroll. With read magic in effect, any spellcaster may decipher any scroll, taking 20. The deciphering requirement applies to any scroll you buy as well as to any you find on the convulsing body of an enemy spellcaster. The deciphering requirement applies to divine scrolls as well as arcane. (In fact, until you decipher, you can't reliably tell the difference. Sticky notes left by scroll writers tend to fall off.) The deciphering requirement applies even if you intend to employ the "use magic device" skill to activate the scroll. Deciphering a scroll does not grant the reader the ability to cast the spell. That is accomplished by having sufficient ranks in a compatible spellcasting class and having sufficient intelligence/wisdom/charisma, or by making a successful "use magic device" skill check. If a scroll is cursed, the act of deciphering it curses the reader. As a friend once said, "Taste it." Automatic Quicken In 3.0, the feat allowed you to quicken spell levels 0-3 when you first took the feat, spell levels 4-6 on the second taking, and 7-9 the third time you took the feat. Yeah, 3 epic feats, but that allowed you to quicken any spell!! Apparently, too good, because in the 3.5 version they changed it to only affect 1 spell level per taking (ignoring 0 level spells), which is pretty ho-hum. Sorry, but we're using the 3.5 version. Massive Damage Rule The Death from Massive Damage is changed from RAW. Instead of a straight 50 hp threshold, the threshold is 20% of the target creature's full hit points plus 50. If you're against a monster with 1000 hit points that's susceptible to DBMD, such as Mamillian the Dire Arctic Mammoth Warbeast, you need to do 200 with one hit to even have a chance of sending a shock through his enormous system.